Day 7

Day 7

Power is out again, thank goodness for batteries and generators The girls are all in bed, and I am just sitting quietly thinking about the day. The day started off waking up with the girls at 5 AM, a whole hour later than for online class days, and getting ready for school. I walked with the girls to school and met the headmistress and all the children. I was introduced and talked to the boys and girls about all the possibilities that are out there in the world for them and shared a bit about my story. I will say, the Paralympic/Olympic thing is pretty cool; even though there is a significant language barrier. I learned quite a bit of Hindi in the four days with Ian, but now am surrounded by Bengali so am back to only knowing a couple words, but all the kids know the word Olympics, and when you say that and gesture wheelchair and then teach the new word, Paralympics, your message gets across just fine.

Two of the girls with disabilities are in an inclusion class at the public school. They go to school each morning and benefit greatly from socializing with their peers. How great is that? Here in Kolkata, where so often kids with disabilities are just kept hidden away or are forgotten about, that this is beginning to change. I hope they are allowed to continue on with their classmates as they progress through the grades. Change is happening, it is possible even in places where you would least expect it. On our walk back we acquired some fresh vegetables from various vendors, including one that was about 5 feet tall and apparently the outside of it can give you a rash of some kind so you are not supposed to touch it. I don’t know what it is called, but we had it with our dinner tonight with a bit of coconut, salt, sugar and it was delicious!

This afternoon was a busy one as well. All four girls go to a community run after school AAC program on the other side of town in Salt Lake. I was very enthusiastic about the opportunity to tag along, and am so glad I did. The other children I met there were fantastic and the staff/mothers were so grateful and appreciative just with my being there. I showed the families pictures of wheelchair racing, of my life. They asked tons of questions—all very good ones. They were curious about why I don’t use a power wheelchair, about if the buses are all accessible in America, about driving, about what my wheelchair was made out of, about how to get stronger arms, about the types of therapies I had as a child. They were eager parents wishing and hoping for what is best for their child, just like any parent, but who feels totally lost because of there not being much/any solid, reliable resources here to find out information. I kept hearing throughout the afternoon just how happy they all were that I was there and had answers to so many questions.

You know when your brain starts working in overdrive all the time? That combination of excitement and uncertainty where you keep coming up with all these crazy ridiculous ideas and you just keep sprouting off in new directions and before too long you are 100% overwhelmed by the past five minutes? Yeah...

So much excitement. Bed for now...